media

Today I am asking my readers to head over to Medium.com where I published an article criticizing Slate for their irresponsible reporting on a sensationalist and false story about Gur banning soy because it can make you gay. The story is not true. It was originally reported with no sources or evidence on YourJewishNews.com, a site with no credibility.

Two well known Orthodox Jewish rabbis were arrested for allegedly conspiring to beat a recalcitrant husband to coerce him to give a get (writ of divorce). This is a serious crime. It also demonstrates the huge Agunah problem in Orthodox Judaism. I did a little write up on the issues this case raises for Haaretz. You can read it here: Haaretz.com (If you get paywalled…

I was invited to join Rabbi Shafran to talk about recent comments by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and the subsequent response by the Agudah. We discussed it on Facebook on Friday and I guess Zev or one of his producers saw the comment thread and decided to ask me onto the show. The format of the show was to be a moderated discussion between Rabbi Shafran…

The USA Today reports that there are some orthodox Jews who will watch fireworks tonight with no sound. Seeing as this year the 4th of July is during the 3 Weeks between Shiva Asar B’Tamuz and Tisha B’Av there are some elements of mourning that are customary during this period. Many orthodox Jews refrain from listening to music as part of their mourning these 3…

Yesterday, on Facebook, I posted the iconic photo of the 78 year old man in an orange shirt surrounded by police officers with smoke billowing in the background just after the explosion at the Boston Marathon. I took notice of the Israeli flag in the background. It was hard to miss the flag through the smoke and it meant something to me that the flag was so…

Now that the Weberman trial is behind us we can reflect on the reactions from within and outside the community. Specifically we need to to analyze the role of the media, secular and religious. The New York media reported the Weberman case. I found their reporting to be pretty fair. They did not prejudge, they did not take sides, and they mostly followed typical conventions…

A total of three people contacted me to tell they heard me on NPR on Monday. Kudos to you three for listening. The segment was actually produced by American Public Media for their Marketplace program. It was a 20 minute interview and the producer selected two tiny quotes from the entire conversation. Such is life. The segment provided some background on the nuance of opinions regarding…

A Typical "Dear Photograph" Submission A little while back I posted a link to a really amazing Tumblr blog called “Dear Photograph”. The idea is hard to explain but when you see it for yourself the whole thing makes perfect sense and is quite touching. Dear Photograph is a blog that posts current photos of a place with a smaller old photograph of the same…

One of the more dramatic events in my lifetime has been the recent release of Gilad Shalit. I think most Jews thought he would never go home. He was released, the price was very high and now a week later we can reflect on the deal and its ramifications. Perhaps the two biggest complaints that supporters of Israel have expressed are related not to Shalit,…

Time Magazine’s September 13th cover article is called “Why Israel Doesn’t Care About Peace”. Unlike some other bloggers, I have actually read the article, not just the excerpt or the headline. It is an unfortunate title for an article. Unfortunate because it has set off a firestorm of condemnation and consternation from Israel lovers everywhere. But even more unfortunate because the title is betrayed by…